A UNIQUE AND REMARKABLE YEAR DRAWS TO A CLOSE

WE'VE BEEN MISSIONARIES ALMOST A YEAR!

Our first year serving a full-time mission together is quickly ending.  We've seen some rough waters and still are striving for smoother sailing. Not many days are uneventful.

We are making a list of things we still are hoping to accomplish before we finish our time here  in order to make sure we get them done.  


There were only two minor car accidents last week, a car window that had to be replaced, doctor and dental appointments, missionaries coming to and leaving the island, transfers, funding missionaries, paying bills, closing an apartment, getting another set up. . .

We are now on the third missionary couple who are helping us here.  The first two couples were local, church service missionaries.  The last of the local couples was serving a family history mission when they were asked to spend part of their missionary hours helping us.  I don't know how we would have managed without them, but now we have been blessed with a full-time couple from Tahiti who will be in charge of apartments and cars.  We are hoping to be able to get all of the apartments in even better shape, have regular inspections, and update first aid kits.  Things that have been on our list for a long time.

  

Having our daughter Annaka come visit for a week was a real highlight. She is the third daughter to come.  We have loved being able to share the beauties of the island and the people with them and share a few memorable adventures.

We (mostly Elder Glade because my French is good enough to say very much) are temporary institute teachers.  I am teaching English and temporarily (I think) playing for Sacrament meeting and Relief Society.  I don't know which hymns we'll be singing, ahead of time.  When I turn to the page the title is in French and not a direct translation from the English.  I'm always interested to discover, after I begin, what hymn I am actually playing. Sometimes the page number isn't written anywhere;  a couple of times I heard the number wrong and played the introduction to the wrong hymn. Children often stand around me when I play prelude or postlude music. Some actually play along with me. One very petite little girl, about 4, noticed the fan was blowing my music closed and stood by me patiently holding the book open throughout the entire hymn. One boy (about 10) asked me to play "As Sisters in Zion" for him.  I wish I had time to teach piano lessons.  The new missionary couple want to improve their English, and, as we go about our day, are helping me with my French.  I may improve more with them in the office.



We love associating with the members here and are so inspired by their stories.  It is amazing how quickly and deeply we have come to love the members, the investigators, and 
the other missionaries. 

Most of all we love being able to witness people being baptized as members of the church.
There have been several lately which is unusual for the New Caledonia area of the Vanuatu Mission.

Giselle found the missionaries at a bus stop and got up the courage to tell them she wanted to be baptized.  Through studying the Bible she knew the baptism she received as a child wasn't the same as the Savior's and that she needed to be baptized by immersion as He was.  She had learned that our church baptizes by immersion.  As the missionaries taught her she was convinced she had found the truth she had been searching for.

A nephew was taught and baptized after he saw the changes in and happiness of his uncle who was baptized last fall.  A mother was baptized because of the example of her 11 year-old son.  In the opening prayer at the baptism he thanked Heavenly Father that his mother was joining the church. His father was a member, but he died a year or so ago.  A wife was lovingly baptized by her husband.  Their young son (about 4 yrs old) was surprised when they walked down the stairs into the water.  When his mother came up out of the water the little boy exclaimed, “Mama tu as plongé… Mouille pas moi!”   (Mommy you dove in the water.  Don’t get me wet!)  Another woman was baptized by her father-in-law.  She has been married for 3 years.  She talked about her journey dealing with her own mom’s (a Jehovah’s Witness) opposition and paid such a beautiful tribute to her in-laws.

At one baptismal service the bishop commented with tears in his eyes that 2017 was the year of making eternal families.  “We need to be patient when sharing the gospel.  The door is always open towards God. God knows how to help each of us.” His own wife had patiently waited for him to join the church.  Four spouses of those baptized this year had waited 3-17 years.  The stake Relief Society president's husband was also baptized this year after 17 years. The last baptism was the father of one of our institute students—more than 17 years of waiting for that family, too.  His 6 year old son exclaimed, "I have waited a long time for Papa to get baptized."  The dad is the nephew of the stake patriarch's wife.  She is thrilled to have another member besides herself in her extended family. We are still amazed at how many of the people being baptized in Nouméa have connections to the island of Lifou.

One morning as I was studying I came across this scripture that describes how I feel as we attend church each Sabbath and as we witness these joyful baptisms.

"Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy."  Mosiah 4:20

Even on gray, rainy days tiny drops of water cling to these needles and sparkle with light.  

JANUARY---2017 BEGINS!

The Perfect Way to End One Year and Begin the Next

Fireworks in Nouméa on New Year's Day night.  Even in summer it is pitch black by eight.  It was so fun to watch these over the bay only steps from our apartment.  We could walk home and not be tangled in all the traffic.

On the last day of 2016 Madeleine was baptized.  She lives in Nouméa but is from Lifou. After attending the LDS church for the first time on December 18th, while visiting relatives in Lifou, she decided she wanted to be baptized.  The Stake Patriarch, who met her at church, called Elder Glade who then called the sisters who live near her.  In the meantime she sought out a relative in Nouméa who is a member.  Madeleine mentioned her desire to be baptized that Monday and her relative called the office elders.  When they came into the office later in the day we asked them how a teaching appointment went that they had told us about before. They said it fell through.  We said we were sorry.  They assured us it was okay because they had been called to come teach a woman that morning and the first thing she said was that she wanted to be baptized.  When their previous appointment fell through they went back and taught her again in the afternoon.  After that the sisters taught her.  She was overjoyed to have found the church and wanted to be baptized immediately. The office elders talked her into waiting until New Year's Eve.  I have never been to a baptism where the spirit was stronger and she hasn't stopped smiling since.  

The new year began with Madeleine's confirmation at sacrament meeting.  She invited family and friends who weren't members to come.   Two short weeks after finding the church she believed to be true, she was a member.

MORE BAPTISMS

A father and son were ready to be baptized on the Loyalty Island of Ouvea.  Two elders were flown there to help with the baptisms.  

EN BROUSSE  (A trip up North)

Last weekend we had a  few errands to do north of Nouméa.  We went to church on Sunday at the branch in Bourail.  It was a good Sunday with a total of 18 members in attendance. This man has recently returned to church and has committed to spend 4 hour a week with the missionaries introducing them to people who have quit coming to church and others who may be interested.  He is a former branch president.  We then drove an hour and forty minutes east to attend the annex in Poro.  It used to have quite a few members attending. Now it is usually a family and one sister.  The family didn't come.  The elders and Elder Glade and I met with Françoise.  She was one of the first members in this area, has been a member a long time, sacrificed to be able to do her temple work in New Zealand.  She has seen the church grow and then almost everyone move or fall away.  She told us over and over again that she was so touched we would all come.  We brought such a powerful spirit. It reminded her that the Lord was mindful of her. She continues to try to help the church grow in the Poro area.

The church is beginning to grow in the north and in the Loyalty Islands.  It is such a blessing to us to see missionaries continue to work hard and members remain faithful even when times are discouraging.  It is a greater blessing to see people accept the peace and joy the gospel can bring into their lives and have a desire to share those blessings with others.

We had a long drive home.  We decided to keep going south even though the roads were not as good as going the long way around to the north again.  The whole drive back to the main road was through the mountains in the rain.  The scenery was varied and mostly gorgeous--ocean, green valleys, lush vegetation, rivers, cliffs, waterfalls, bamboo forests.  It was tempting to take lots of photos, but we needed to get back to civilization before dark. We stopped for a couple and took others from the car window.

We drove past vast nickel mines where huge green mountains were slashed with red scars.  Fortunately there is some reforestation going on. We also counted eight burned cars.  Sometimes Kanaks steal and burn cars to protest the French. Sometimes people seem to steal and burn cars just because.  That and graffiti are terrible problems here.


 

THE TRAIN

A mission has sometimes been compared to a train which continues to travel forward.  As it goes some people get off and others get on.  These are the missionaries who left the New Caledonian train in January..

and these four hopped on.  Sad to have missionaries leave, but exciting to have the new ones come.

BLESSINGS

Two more blessings that January brought:  our oldest granddaughter began serving her mission and the three of us have the blessing of serving at the same time,

and the Flamboyant Trees are blooming everywhere in New Caledonia.  Some look like they have been planted and others are blooming all over the hillsides. 

It's hard to believe that January has passed so quickly.  The hottest days of summer are supposedly over.  We are looking forward to a this new year when we can continue enjoying the blessing, for this brief period in our lives, of serving the Lord as full-time missionaries.  

There is still some room  on this blog and I couldn't resist the temptation to post another picture (of the hundreds I've taken) of a New Caledonian sunset.

A MISSIONARY CHRISTMAS--continued

Christmas Day we attended church for an hour between 9 and 10.  I love having Christmas fall on a Sunday.  I love being greeted with wishes for a Merry Christmas.   This year it was "Joyeux Noël."  All the missionaries gathered after lunch.  We began by viewing the First Presidency Christmas Devotional which the missionaries hadn't had a chance to see.  When the missionaries joined in singing "Silent Night"  with the broadcast I thought they sounded like a choir of angels and I loved looking at their sweet, sincere faces.  They want so much to serve the Lord and it was a privilege to be celebrating this Christmas with them.

After the devotional the missionaries had planned a talent show.  Each district performed a number and then whoever wanted to could share a talent.

Some of the districts:







































Some who volunteered:



Some who were volunteered by others:     







The Idahoans and the Canadiens

















Among the highlights were:

Sister Gastaldi singing songs from her native French Guiana in French Creole and


the Tahitians sharing a Tahitian Christmas song with their beautiful harmonies.  

After no more volunteers and no one else could be coerced into performing and the talent show ended we had a picnic outside.




The evening concluded with the missionaries exchanging gifts and a visit from Pere Noël bringing gifts for each missionary by way of Vanuatu.


         Our tallest elder got a princess crown and Elder Ursenbach seems pleased.

The missionaries loved their new shirts, mission video, mission cookbook, and m and m's.

After all the festivities were over Elder Glade and I returned to our apartment to open the gifts we gave to each other.

I'm so grateful to have had the experience of a Christmas as a missionary.  Grateful for the gift of the Savior, his teachings, his example, and his atoning sacrifice.  Grateful to have an opportunity to show Heavenly Father our love and gratitude by serving a full time mission.

Festival of Lights at Place de Cocotiers

A MISSIONARY CHRISTMAS

A MISSIONARY CHRISTMAS

This year our Christmas celebration began with a fireside concert by the youth in our stake. They had been rehearsing for months to prepare and their music was "incroyable."  We have many talented musicians in our stake here and I was impressed that so many youth were willing to sacrifice so much of their time to be able to perform so beautifully.  There were important people from the community who attended as well as members and investigators.

Our ward Christmas party was a celebration with a lively emcee, sweet singing by the primary children, games, music, impromptu performances, a haka, karaoke, dancing, joking, laughing, and, as always, lots of food. The party lasted for hours and everyone seemed to whole-heartedly enjoy every minute of it.

We had the young adults come to our apartment for a Christmas Dinner.  They come for family home evening, but we have never fed them dinner before.  We had chicken fajitas. They loved the crepes (tortillas) and the carrot cake.

Each of the four nights before Christmas we took four different groups of elders and sisters to sing and talk to the people visiting the light festival at the Place de Cocotiers, the center square in Noumea.  Crowds gathered to listen to them and the Mayor of Noumea said she loved having them sing.

We spent several hours Christmas Eve day and Christmas Day with all the missionaries in New Caledonia.  Christmas Eve day there were games and a Hawaiian luau themed dinner.

                       

Continued. . .

JOYEUX NOEL!

LIFOU--continued

LIFOU--continued

While we were in Lifou the elders had other teaching appointments--people who were interested in being taught the gospel while the full-time missionaries were on the island.The missionaries taught another woman, Jeanette, whose husband Michel was a member, but hadn't been to church in some time.  Still, he had told her about the gospel.  She said they had been walking two different paths in life and she decided she wanted to walk the same path--his.  She was sitting on her bed on the floor when we met her--unable to walk because of terribly painful gout in her feet and knees.  She also has a heart condition.  She had her scriptures and several manuals spread out around her as she studied, diligently seeking truth.  She had read a lot of the Book of Mormon and knew it and the church were true.  She did have concerns about being able to attend church and didn't think there was any way she could be baptized.  She was concerned about her infirmities until Elder Glade assured her the Savior loved the infirm.  The missionaries assured her they would find a way to help her in and out of the rather flimsy, portable font.  She was willing to try, but very worried. The plan was that she and her husband would attend the Ihage baptisms and church on Sunday.  After church she would be baptized and confirmed the next Sunday.  

She was very anxious to be baptized and be forgiven of her sins.  She wanted to dedicate the rest of her life to God.  Her husband said she used to drink, use cannabis, and gamble; she had become a different woman.  He cares for her with gentleness and devotion.  She is very grateful to him for his goodness and example and the teachings he had been sharing with her.  I have never been in a home where I could feel more love or a more powerful spirit than we felt in their humble home.

Jeanette and Michel

In front of Jeanette and Michel's home

Our stake patriarch and his wife live in Lifou.  While we were there they helped us in every way that they possibly could including helping us find our way around the island (which was more difficult than you might think since nothing is marked, there is thick vegetation on both sides of the road, and the island is quite flat and has few landmarks), feeding us, letting us use their wifi to find out about our new granddaughter, treating us to ice cream from their stand (youngest son in the background), and making sure everything was set for the baptisms--even having baptismal clothing sent over from Nouméa.  The patriarch even rented a van to bring Jeanette and Michel to the baptisms and to church.

So happy to be being baptized.

    Concern is visible on her face.

Joyful, tearful embrace

Daughters of an ami, Gloria.  One is named Marguerite.

After finishing up some business on Monday and before we had to fly back we had a little time to explore the island which is very beautiful, but the wonderful people are the most beautiful.  Lifou has so much potential for the church to grow there.  Several people are interested in the church since the baptisms of the Ihage family. There are at least 16 people being taught both here on Grand Terrre (the main island) and on Lifou as a result of people who attended the baptism. Elder Glade and I would love to live there and work before we finish our mission, but that is just wishful thinking.  We will always treasure the short time we were able to spend there.